Chapter 20 A Terrible Cooperation Lin Yuwei asked softly, her voice almost melting...
Gu Qingyan took a sip of her drink, the spiciness of the whiskey spreading in her throat: "You're overthinking it. After all, it's related to the protection of traditional culture, so it won't hurt to learn more."
Lu Ming smiled meaningfully, leaned forward and lowered his voice: "I heard that the art design part has been handed over to a newly established studio. What's the name of that studio again? Oh, Shiguang Studio. The founder is Lin Yuwei, who just returned from abroad. I heard she's a great beauty. Lin Yuwei's name sounds familiar..."
Gu Qingyan's hand paused almost imperceptibly, and the wine in the glass swayed slightly: "Really? I don't know much about it."
"Keep pretending, keep pretending." Lu Ming laughed, with an expression that seemed to see right through him: "You really think I don't read gossip news? Two months ago, you spent two million to buy Miss Lin's sculpture. At that time, the internet was full of rumors about you, like the CEO of Qichen Technology spending money like water just to win a smile from a beautiful artist, or a diamond bachelor falling for a pretty face... Everyone loves beauty, and we're all men, so I can totally understand you. I just didn't expect you to like the glamorous type. No wonder all those young girls in the office were throwing themselves at you, but you ignored them all. You're more virtuous than Tang Sanzang."
Gu Qingyan glanced at him coldly, her eyes like knives: "If you're just bored, you can go home first."
"Hey, don't be angry. We've been brothers and classmates for so many years, and I really care about your marriage." Lu Ming raised his hands in surrender, but couldn't hide the smile on his lips: "But seriously, since you care so much, why didn't you bid for the municipal government's project in the first place? With Qichen's strength, winning this project would have been a piece of cake."
Gu Qingyan remained silent for a moment, then downed the wine in his glass in one gulp. His Adam's apple bobbed, and his tone carried a hint of bitterness: "Some things can't be forced." His gaze drifted to the window, as if piercing through the vast night and seeing a distant place.
****
After their visit to Longquan Village, Lin Yuwei and Zhou Xubai returned to the city.
Her initial design was completed quickly. At the presentation meeting, when she presented her concept of perfectly combining traditional wood carving with modern technology, the leaders of the Cultural Bureau were full of praise.
"This is fantastic!" Director Zhang exclaimed excitedly, leaning forward from his seat. "Especially this 'dialogue' theme, it perfectly captures the soul of wood carving art! The design of the VR experience area is both modern and retains traditional charm, which is exactly what we wanted! Ms. Lin, Mr. Zhou, let's not delay, let's sign the contract today."
Hearing Director Zhang's frank statement, Lin Yuwei and Zhou Xubai exchanged a smile and immediately agreed to sign the contract.
Director Zhang's assistant hurriedly prepared the signing documents. The conference room was filled with a joyful atmosphere. Just then, Lin Yuwei received a call from Xiao Li, and she got up to answer it in the corridor.
Xiao Li's anxious voice came from the other end of the phone: "Teacher Lin, the latest investigation results are still not optimistic. Zhichuang Internet has recently signed four or five new projects. My friend assessed that, given their cash flow, they are very likely to run into difficulties. Moreover, more than half of their engineers are newly hired, and the technical team's capabilities are uneven..."
Lin Yuwei's joy dissipated by half, replaced by heaviness: "Are you sure?"
“I’m about 80% sure,” Xiao Li said in a low voice. “My friend is very reliable in the industry. He said that Zhichuang Internet has been hiring like crazy recently, but they can’t retain core technical personnel.”
Lin Yuwei was caught in a dilemma. It was still not too late to withdraw, but that meant giving up this rare opportunity and letting Zhou Xubai and his team's efforts go to waste. Lin Yuwei returned to the conference room, found Director Zhang, and whispered, "Director Zhang, I'm sorry to bother you, but I'd like to talk to you alone."
The two entered Director Zhang's office, where Director Zhang asked with concern, "Ms. Lin, do you have any further concerns? Do you have any ideas for adjusting the plan?"
Lin Yuwei carefully chose her words, trying to make her tone sound objective and professional: "Regarding technology partners, do we have any other options? I heard that Zhichuang Internet has recently taken on a lot of projects, and I'm worried that they may not have enough manpower, which could affect the progress and quality of the projects."
Director Zhang nodded understandingly and gestured for her to sit down: "Your concerns are very reasonable. However, Zhichuang Internet has assured us that it will provide a dedicated team for this project and prioritize our project. Moreover..." He lowered his voice: "To tell you the truth, Ms. Lin, the funds allocated from above are limited. Zhichuang Internet's quote is 30% lower than other companies, which is crucial within the budget."
Lin Yuwei understood what this meant: when a project has a limited budget, price is often the decisive factor.
“I understand,” she finally said, trying to keep her voice steady. “Then let’s proceed as planned.”
Director Zhang pondered for a moment, then tapped his fingers lightly on the table a few times: "How about this, to put everyone at ease, I'll also call over a representative from Zhichuang Internet to discuss this in person before signing the contract."
Soon, Mr. Wang, the general manager of Zhichuang Internet, arrived. He was a short, stout, seemingly honest middle-aged man with beads of sweat on his forehead, clearly having rushed over. He warmly shook Lin Yuwei's hand, his grip so strong that it made her frown slightly: "So this is General Manager Lin! You're so young and promising! Don't worry, we'll handle the technical aspects! We've assembled an elite team specifically to manage this project, and we absolutely guarantee the quality!"
Lin Yuwei maintained a professional smile and gently withdrew her hand: "Looking forward to the collaboration, we can discuss the specific details later."
After the contract was signed, General Manager Wang treated everyone to dinner at the hotel restaurant. The atmosphere was lively, and everyone was happy that the project was progressing smoothly. Just then, Lin Yuwei received another anonymous text message: "It's not too late to pull back from the brink."
Her mood immediately sank. After barely managing to drink a few glasses of wine, she excused herself to go out for some fresh air and went to the hotel terrace. The night breeze was slightly cool. She dialed the unfamiliar number back. The phone rang for a long time before it was finally answered, but there was only the sound of silent breathing on the other end.
Lin Yuwei asked softly, her voice almost carried away by the wind, "Who are you? Gu Qingyan?" The other party did not speak and quickly hung up the phone. Lin Yuwei listened to the busy tone in the receiver, looked at the city's dazzling night view, and felt a ripple in her heart.
****
Gu Qingyan stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in his office, overlooking the city lights. The call log on his phone screen glowed faintly in the darkness. His fingers unconsciously traced the familiar number that had just been disconnected, his eyes filled with a complex and unreadable expression.
With a slight swipe of her fingertip across the phone screen, she inadvertently clicked on the official tweet from the Cultural Bureau. The latest post was a report about the design team's field trip to the countryside. One photo in particular stood out: Lin Yuwei and Zhou Xubai sat side by side on a wooden bench, attentively listening to the master craftsman's explanation. Zhou Xubai leaned slightly towards her, his finger lightly tapping the notebook in her hand. The two were so close they were almost touching. The time watermark in the lower right corner of the photo indicated that it was taken yesterday afternoon.
Gu Qingyan's fingertips tightened suddenly, the metal frame of the phone digging into his knuckles until they turned white. He stared at Lin Yuwei's slightly lowered profile in the photo, a strand of hair falling by her ear, and the faint, tightly pursed curve of her lips—that was her unique expression when she was focused, unchanged even after eight years.
After a long while, Gu Qingyan turned around and threw her phone on the sofa, letting the screen's light gradually fade into the darkness.
****
The collaboration between Shiguang Studio and Zhichuang Internet officially began. However, in less than half a month, the working atmosphere of the Shiguang team gradually changed from initial enthusiasm to anxiety. This change was subtle and continuous, like dark clouds slowly gathering in the sky before a rainstorm.
Lin Yuwei was the first to notice something was wrong. She began to hear frequent complaints from her designers, initially at formal project progress meetings, but gradually spreading to chance encounters in the break room and casual conversations after get off work.
At Monday's meeting, Li Xiao from the UI team angrily reported while holding the design drafts: "Teacher Lin, the contact person from Zhichuang Interconnected said that the real-time rendering accuracy requirements we proposed 'may not be perfectly supported' by their current engine version, and suggested that we lower the standards."
Lin Yuwei took the design draft marked with many question marks, with a note on it stating: This is the third time this week that I have been asked to compromise on the core design concept due to "technical limitations".
"Did they provide a specific explanation of the technical bottlenecks? Or technical documentation for alternative solutions?" Lin Yuwei pressed.
Li Xiao shook his head: "No, they only gave a very vague reply, saying that it is 'difficult' and 'suggests simplification'. Even if we are willing to compromise, we don't know to what extent we need to lower it to meet their standards."
Lin Yuwei shook her head and said, "We can't lower the standards. Director Zhang's point is that art and design should come first, and the technology used should serve the art and design, not put the cart before the horse and make us modify the design to accommodate their underpowered engine version."
Similar scenarios followed one after another. A set of ingenious VR interaction logic submitted by interactive designer Chen Lu was rejected, with the reason being "the implementation cost is too high, and a more basic solution is recommended." Even the high-precision model carefully crafted by the modeling team was asked to reduce the number of faces because "the file is too large and there are concerns about excessive runtime load."
Lin Yuwei knew that if things continued this way, the resulting demo would be very different from what she had originally envisioned, so she decided to communicate directly with Mr. Wang of Zhichuang Internet.
On the other end of the phone, General Manager Wang's voice was loud and clear, and his attitude was almost exaggeratedly friendly: "Oh, General Manager Lin! Don't worry! It must be those young guys down there who are afraid of trouble and are slacking off! I'll go and scold them right now! Some of them are newly hired and don't know any better. I'll personally oversee this project from now on, and I guarantee there won't be any problems!"
This communication seemed to have an immediate effect. Mr. Wang quickly created a new technical communication group and enthusiastically posted several photos of engineers working overtime to discuss the topic. He even shared screenshots of several code snippets, and the atmosphere was very positive for a time.
However, this "improvement" lasted for less than three days. After the new design was submitted, the group fell silent again. After several inquiries, the engineer finally gave a brief reply: "It is being evaluated. It will be difficult to implement."
Lin Yuwei called President Wang again, but this time the response was noticeably slower, and the background noise included the clinking of glasses and muffled laughter.
"President Lin," President Wang's voice was still smiling, but it revealed a hint of absent-mindedness: "Technological innovation always involves overcoming difficulties. Give us some time to study it further, don't worry!"
As time went on, Mr. Wang's communication attitude changed significantly. He went from responding promptly to delaying his replies, and his phone calls often went to voicemail. His email replies became increasingly brief, filled with phrases like "received," "busy," and "I'll reply later." The promised "later" often meant waiting for several days.
On one occasion, Lin Yuwei deliberately dialed President Wang's mobile phone at nearly nine o'clock in the evening, and the phone rang for a long time before it was answered.
"President Wang, are you still overseeing operations at the company?" Lin Yuwei asked calmly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
